Mirage
by NightXMareXMinkx
Summary: It is 20 years after Harry Potter's death, almost 100 since Voldemort's rule ended, and all seems well in the world as 2 friends enter their 4th year in Hogwarts. But that magical paradise is nothing but a mirage, as the 2 friends will soon discover...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is Night here! This story was written by Night, Minkx, and Mare on our collaboration account (NightxMarexMinkx). I'm posting this story up because Mare isn't very familiar with this website.  
>Please enjoy our story and review. Reviews encourage Mare to keep writing, and she is one of the writers for this story...<br>We, well I at least, appreciate helpful criticism. Please keep in mind that this is Mare's first fanfiction story, my first collaboration story, and (I think) Minkx's first fanfiction story.**

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ Night, Mare, and Minkx do not own the Harry Potter book series or the movies. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. The only thing that Night, Mare, and Minkx own is this idea for this story and the OCs.

**NOTE: This story takes place 20 years after Harry Potter's death, so you won't see many of the characters from the original series (except, perhaps, Professor Binns.) This story centers around 2 OCs, though you might see the descendents of the original Golden trio, etc.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Read and Review!**

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><p>Andrea Orpheo sighed, tapping her foot impatiently and glancing at the robe shop across the street from the bookstore. Perhaps she should go inside, just to kill an hour of time while she was waiting. Some new reading material did sound nice.<p>

She inspected the books behind the bookstore's glass window, reading the titles of the crisp, leather covers in a bored manner, sparing each a quick glance before her eyes flitted to the next book.

_100 steps to raising a dragon by Bill Weasley (Edited Edition with special interview with Hagrid, deceased groundskeeper and dragon-raiser!)_

She watched, slightly interested, as the dragon on the cover writhed and blew a snort of fire which immediately burned the straps that held one of the latest editions of _The Book of Monsters_ shut, setting the violent book free as it snapped and began to devour the other books, tearing apart their pages, and sending the poor bookshop keeper into a panic as he scurried about in the background.

"Well, I suppose that rules out spending time in the bookstore."

Andrea checked her watch, glancing upward as a shred of the sign that had hung above the monster book fluttered downward in the flurry of flying paper, raising an eyebrow as she read "Ultimate Edition! 50% less violent than early copies".

"So much for that," she murmured to herself, "why do bookshop owners even order those crazy things."

A smiling, waving photograph of a slightly handsome man with noticeably green eyes and jet black hair wafted downwards behind the glass, landing gently on the bookstand before it too suffered the same fate as the books, mauled.

"Harry Potter," she thought to herself, before her mind, crammed with far too much information from her History of Magic class, also told her, "he was the only survivor of Voldemort's attacks. He mastered the 3 Hollows and later on defeated Voldemort himself. He died in his sleep at the age of 100 years old on August 30, 2012, exactly 20 years ago."

She groaned, tucking back a strand of her long, black hair, cursing her annoying memory. It could somehow manage to retain information from exactly 3 months ago, yet it managed to discard any information regarding numbers a few hours after she'd so carefully learned it and pressed it into her mind, which meant she'd often confused or forgotten birthdays, Arithmancy, and mixed up the dates in her History of Magic class (such as the time she'd accidentally written down that Barick the Bold had been born in 2019 instead of 1290, much to her dismay and much to her classmates' delight).

She waggled a finger back in a sort of a finger-wave at the shredded remains of the Harry Potter photo (though she could still make out Potter's waving hand).

Harry Potter was just another part of the History of Magic class now. His fame and good deeds sure to go down in stories from generation to generation (and on many of Mr. Binns's dusty tests).

Andrea snapped out of her train of thought as she caught sight of a clock.

12:00 P.M.

"Marcus, that lazy idiot! I guess I'm going to have to drag him out," she muttered to herself, suddenly remembering her situation. Andrea glanced upwards towards the sky, noting the dark gray clouds, and pulling at her bag's strap, she checked it to make sure she'd packed her umbrella. She was wearing her new robes today, and from experience, she'd learned that robes didn't fare very well in water.

Andrea then proceeded in glaring at the robe shop door from across the street, knowing exactly who to blame if her new robes were ruined, pushing her way through the crowded street and to the robe shop.

She pushed the door open, met with the friendly tinkling of bells and musty smell of mothballs.

"Marcus, aren't you done yet? I've been outside of the bookstore for _an hour _already!"

"Back here!" A familiar voice greeted her, coming from somewhere behind the manikins that kept hopping out to display themselves in front of her.

"What is taking you so long?" Andrea called out, her voice muffled when something soft and velvety swung rudely in her face.

"Decisions!" Came an impatient response. A flash of red hair greeted her before she saw Marcus' face in the mirror, grinning devilishly as always. "Now Andrea, do I want to go for the sophisticated, suave wizard in silver," Marcus said, spinning around to fully display his robes, which had a number of pins and threads in it, stuck at odd angles and ways that made the robe flair out. Her gaze lingered over the shop attendant who was anxiously watching Marcus and she realized that this unlucky employee of the shop had probably spent the last hour making adjustments and then taking them down again and then going to fetch the various robes lying on the floor next to the mirror, all to the whim of her friend. "The extra height does help, doesn't it..." Marcus mumbled to himself as he walked past the mirror again. Outside, the rain swished sideways across the shop window, blurring the view of the bookstore across the street, as Andrea watched for signs of her friends and classmates, most of whom would be returning for their 4th year of Hogwarts.

"Andrea!" Marcus' face was suddenly invading her space as she realized he had been trying to showcase the various robes he had been trying on, and she had not been paying attention as this was of trivial concern.

"Let's go! I've got the purple ones, good with the cape I've seen- Oh, we've got to go there now!" Andrea didn't ask for an explanation, knowing that Marcus probably wouldn't be stopped from whatever new obsession he had with extravagance. She quickened her pace as Marcus brushed past her, catching the door before it hit her in the face.

"Ever the gentleman..."she muttered before taking a last glance at the warmth of the shop.

"Hey," she called, quickening her pace in the rain as she set her eyes on the running form of Marcus, "You got a head start!" She called before really running, pulling out an umbrella from her bag and bumping into Marcus as they rounded the turn out of Diagon Alley.

It's 12:30! We need to get on the train by 1:25!"

Andrea checked her watch again as she pushed the door open to the store she had seen Marcus go into.

She groaned.

The store turned out to be a muggle shop filled with t-shirts and punk music and edgy clothing.

While wondering what Marcus would possibly want to come here for, as she personally preferred country music over pop and found the shop extremely tacky, she spotted him by a pair of cowboy boots. He was enthusiastically discussing their price with the cashier, while eyeing a cape over the cashier's shoulder. Andrea personally pitied the poor girl, having to deal with a shopper like Marcus. The conversation ended when Marcus dug out a big bag of Galleons and bought not only the cape and the cowboy boots but a top hat also.

"Marcus, we still need to make a trip home to get our things!"

"Alright, I'm ready!" Marcus greeted her rather enthusiastically, already wearing his new cowboy boots and the top hat, which reminded her a lot of that man they printed on Muggle money.

She gave him a skeptical look.

"You shouldn't waste your money," she lectured, starting to feel a lot like one of those old-fashioned, stuck-up nursemaids who tried to keep up with those energetic kids they were supposed to care for.

Marcus looked affronted.

"I mean, I might as well cherish the most dashing time of my youth, right?" He carded a hand through his hair and tried to patronize her with his signature insidious look.

"Stupid playboy," she muttered under her breath, though she relented, "let's just get our stuff and go to the station already."

Marcus waved his purple-robed arms about in a grand gesture as they walked.

"No need! We can go straight to the station!" he announced loudly, dragging her to the station and then plunging through the wall to the platform 9 ¾, he shouted loudly, "Hokey-pokey!"

He gained a few stares from the surrounding witches and wizards as there was a puff of smoke and a disgruntled-looking house elf appeared, looking particularly worse for wear with his pinkish-white flesh hanging off of his bony limbs and his right hand missing, replaced with a shiny, golden hook with Marcus's family crest, engraved upon it, the Valenski crest, a sleek leopard.

He pointed a finger at the house elf and commanded in a grand voice, "Hokey-pokey! Get me and Andrea our luggage for Hogwarts!"

"Lazybones…" she muttered at Mark under her breath, "Can't even do your own work…"

The elf gave her a rather poisonous glare and disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing a few moments later with 4 large trunks, 3 of which were extremely fancy, gilded with silver and with a snake insignia on it, while the fourth was plain, with nothing but a name tag attached to it.

"And our pets, Hokey-Pokey!"

The elf disappeared in another puff of smoke, taking 3 minutes before reappearing, this time, with a large cage containing an owl and a carrier holding a tawny cat with cold, gray-green eyes that inspected its surrounding with disdain.

The elf deposited the cage unceremoniously on the floor, causing the slumbering owl inside of it to awaken in a flurry of feather and hoots as Andrea gave the elf a dirty look, retrieving the cage and its contents carefully and placing it upright on the platform floor.

"Hello, Eloise!"

Marcus quickly unlatched the door of the carrier and pulled out the poor cat, ignoring how it writhed in his arms uncomfortably and hissed.

The elf still stood on the platform, tapping his foot in an annoyed manner while muttering under his breath.

Remembering something, Andrea stood, asking, "Marcus…isn't your house elf called Hooky? Not Hokey-Pokey?"

"Hmm?" Marcus looked up, "He is?"

Hooky threw Andrea another glare, performing a deep bow in Marcus's direction, before saying in a hissing tone, "Master Marcus can call me whatever he wants. He does not have too listen to this idiotic half-blood…."

Andrea glared back at him, clearly telling him his ill intentions toward her were mutual, as he continued his little rant.

"Oh, master Marcus used to be such a good child…Always did whatever his parents told him…worthy of Salazar Slytherin's house….did what he had to do…yes, he had the right friends back then. He was respected, proud…everything a good pureblood should be. He knew back then that when a limb of a tree went bad it should be cut off! Until he mixed with the likes of you and-"

Suddenly, Marcus moved swiftly, unlike his usual lazy, far too-extravagant gestures, and with his cloak flying behind him, he roughly clamped a hand over the frail house-elf's mouth.

For a moment, Andrea could see the resemblance between Marcus and his family's emblem, the leopard.

His eyes had turned icy, usually lax shoulders tense to reveal lean, muscular arms that she hadn't even realized Marcus had, and his teeth were even slightly clenched and bared.

She'd once imagined that if she were to sketch Marcus, she would have to use the lightest, slightly blurring lines for his relaxed body, a curvaceous line for his mouth, and perhaps mischievous eyes, and that would be enough to capture his essence. Yet if she had that drawing right now, she would have started over, let all of those light pencil strokes be swallowed up by the pink eraser, and replace them with rigid, dark lines, slant his eyes and shade in that dark coldness she saw in them right now.

"Marcus?" she ventured to ask.

"Hooky, you may go now."

Andrea gave a start. Marcus usually never got the house-elf's name right.

And as she watched him withdraw his arm, fist still clenched tightly, bending down to brush his purple robes off, she swore she heard him whisper, "Don't ever tell."

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the story, and I repeat, please review. Reviews encourage us to continue writing. <strong>

**Keep in mind, this was a bit of any introductory chapter, just so the readers could understand our setting, time period, and get to know our characters. Feel free to PM. **

**Our OCs:**

**Andrea Orpheo belongs to Night**

**Marcus Valenski belongs to Mare**

**Hooks (Hokey-Pokey) the House Elf belongs to Night**


	2. Chapter 2

**Gah...this is Night again. I'm so tired of writing disclaimers... Well, enjoy the story and thank you for the reviews. And in response to them: **

**.tuerzame.: Thank you very much for reviewing! Mare isn't currently here, but she did mention to me through email that she found your review very encouraging. Also, to answer your question, Harry Potter will not play a very large role, though I was thinking about having him appear later on as a ghost or through the Veil. That might not happen though, since I don't know what Mare and Minkx think about having Harry Potter appear in the story. **

**Willholmer: I have no idea who you are...I'm sorry. I'm going to assume you're one of her friends in real life or you're related to her in some way since you seem to know that we're already up chapter 6, even though we've only submitted 2 chapters on this website...And there will be other OCs besides Marcus and Andrea. Minkx has made one that will be making an appearance soon and I've also made another OC who might accompany Marcus and Andrea in their adventures. There are also a few others that I've probably forgotten. By the way, while we are trying to make this a good story, we're also trying to have fun with this. **

**DISCLAIMER: Night, Mare, and Minkx don't own the Harry Potter book series or movie series. The Harry Potter book series belongs to J.K. Rowling. We only own our created characters (Andrea, Marcus, and the new OC who is going to appear in this chapter). **

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Marcus finished brushing the invisible flecks of dirt off, the house elf already gone in another puff of smoke.

He somehow seemed to relax again, turning back into a charming jokester.

"Well, let's get going," he said with a sunny smile, "can't be late for our first day back at Hogwarts!"

Marcus swiftly picked up 2 of his trunks, leaving the other 2 where they were, and grunting, he clumsily attempted to walk in through a train door and instead ended up hitting a wall instead and dropping his luggage.

Andrea bit her lip, still not able to get over the fact that something was amiss…If only Hooky was here so she could question him about this matter…

"Don't you usually have Hooky carry your luggage into the train?" she asked, hoping that Marcus would call Hooky back and that she would be able to corner the hook-handed house elf to force the information out of him.

Marcus gave her a strained smile, his usually mischievous and merry gray eyes flickering, showing a trace more of something else, something she couldn't quite identify.

Suddenly, he picked up the 2 trunks once more, blocking Andrea's view of his face so only his unruly, reddish-brown hair was visible.

"Well, my mother is probably having Hook-a-looks help out now, so I can carry my own things!"

"But you just said his name correctly a minute ago…"

"I did?"

He disappeared into one of the train's cars before she could answer, returning empty-handed.

"I found an empty car for us to sit in, come on!" Marcus said abruptly, picking up his 2 last trunks and dumping them into the compartment as well.

She stood for a minute, uneasy.

His red-haired head poked out of the train's door once more, and this time, he marched out and grabbed her hand, dragging her into the car.

"Hey! My luggage!"

Marcus grinned, any trace of whatever emotion had been in his eyes earlier, gone.

"As you wish, madam!" he made a mock-bow and went out once more, this time taking her trunk and placing it in the compartment, making a separate trip for her owl.

"Hrrtrrr-who! WHO! WHO-WHO!"

Frantic hoots sounded out through the platform as the owl inside of the cage flew against its cage bars frantically, attempting to stretch its wings to full length, all the time while Marcus held the cage at arm-length and made a run for it, depositing it in the train car as well.

"Shani really does hate you, doesn't he?" Andrea said absentmindedly, stroking the owl's head through the cage bars, "I wonder why?"

Shani hooted softly now, comforted by the presence of his owner.

He was an unique-looking owl, not exactly odd. He had tufts on his head and beautiful molten-gold eyes, as well as a beautifully-curving beak, interrupted only by the long scar above the beak, an old cut that had never healed which lay horizontally across his wide face. All of these features would suggest an eagle owl, except for perhaps the fact that his feathers were all white, like a snowy owl's, except for the dark brown tips of his wings and the tawny patterns on his lower chest.

"Shani means crimson red, doesn't it?" Andrea asked, attempting to relieve the tension that existed in the unusual silence in the car, and turning the cage so that the bird was facing Marcus, she said, "Do you see a bit of red or anything crimson on these feathers?"

Marcus glanced at the bird silently for a while before giving a slow, lazy shrug.

"You probably don't remember do you?" Andrea said, attempting to have a 2-way conversation with only one person speaking.

She went back to stroking the owl and than said to the owl, "Now if only you could tell us why this silly fool named you 'crimson'!"

"Yes…it would be amazing if all of nature could talk, wouldn't it?"

Andrea gave a start at hearing the unfamiliar voice echo through the nearly-empty train car.

She turned to see a slender girl with light blonde hair, the girl's long locks glinting with an almost white hue in the train's unnatural lighting. A dreamy smiled curled on the girl's lips as she swayed in a way that Andrea imagined a sleepwalker would, looking almost ready to fall over, and she'd begun to wonder if she should go over and steady the girl when the blonde-haired girl simply leaned and touched one of the train's walls, pressing her ear against it and closing her eyes.

"Imagine…" she murmured in that same dreamy, sleepwalking voice, "what this piece of wood would say…How many students have walked past it…I wonder what conversations it's heard…"

She gave the girl a puzzled look, uncertain what to make of this odd child, watching her with an intense curiosity similar to that of a little boy's when he was confronted with a new toy he'd never seen before.

After a while, growing bored of watching the girl simply stroke the wooden wall of the train and murmur to it, she turned around again and took to staring out the window, pressing her cheek against the cool glass.

She could already see Hogwarts in the distance, the medieval-styled turrets waving in the air and the rippling lake below it.

She squinted, almost sure she could see tiny tails flipping in and out of the water. Mermaids, perhaps? A Kraken? She drifted away in thought, her eyelids slowly fluttering downwards, little shutters sliding down upon her blue eyes…

"Excuse me, but what's your Patronus?"

Her eyes snapped open.

"Hmm?"

She looked up to see the odd girl staring down at her, peering over the seat, her grey-blue eyes no longer dreamy and wispy but more focused and curious.

Andrea got up from the seat, switching to the one next to Marcus as she answered, feeling a bit peeved at the sudden invasion of her space.

"It's a horse."

"Oh," the girl said, looking rather disappointed as she sighed, "I almost thought I had it right this time!"

"Had what right?"

"The prophecy," the girl said, acting as if this was obviously the subject of the conversation.

"Which prophecy?" Andrea asked, feeling slightly irritated by the girl's vagueness, "There hasn't been a prophecy in years. Not since the last one about Harry Potter and Voldemort…"

The girl inspected the two of them carefully, making Andrea nervous as she peered at them with her eyes, their gray-green hue making her appear almost blind. Finally, she rifled through her bag, removing something with great care.

"My great-grandmother made it. You might need these."

She dropped 2 small, blue orbs, no larger than marbles, into Marcus and Andrea's laps, before moving off again, crossing the train car, humming some tune that wandered from note to note listlessly, and then she exited, letting the door clank behind her.

Marcus lifted one of the orbs up, his head propped up with his other arm, holding the orb between his thumb and forefinger.

"A Muggle marble?"

He seemed somewhat revived with this new toy that had been dropped into his lap.

Andrea picked hers up as well, examining the smoke that seemed to be trapped inside of the clear blue orb.

"No…I think I've heard of these from the kids in Divination Class. It's a Prophecy. Well, actually it's just a container for a prophecy. You're supposed to smash them to hear the actual prophecy, but-"

_Smash!_

Andrea heard a tinkling of glass and she groaned as she saw the shattered remains of one of the orbs lying on the ground.

"they can only be used once…" she said, finishing her sentence as she sighed and watched the smoky contents escape from the enchanted shards of glass, floating up to reveal a very familiar face from her History of Magic textbooks.

"Luna Lovegood!" she gasped.

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Mare and I (Night) wrote this chapter together, though I made the cliffhanger at the end... Yes...I suppose that was slightly cruel of me. Mare and I(Night) wrote these chapters before Minkx decided to join our collaboration fanfiction story, so you won't see Minkx's writing until the next chapter. The next chapter will be coming out soon, since it's already written and we just need to post it here. I tend to only submit one chapter a day. <strong>

**Please review and give us feedback on our writing! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey...guess who. It's Night again. Apparently, since I submitted the first chapter of the story, it means I will forever-more be the update slave. Just for the record, I'm holding a grudge against you for this, Mare. Minkx has an excuse because she's writing the next chapter, but you, Mare, do not.**

** Anyway, here's the next chapter. In case you're curious, I wrote the prophecy and part of this chapter while Mare also wrote part of this chapter and Minkx wrote the section in which our new OC is introduced. We actually have 3 more chapters already written, but we're just really slow updaters... Sorry...**

**In Response to Chapter 2 Reviews:**

**.tuerzame.: (Night) I'm glad to hear the house elf scene made a lasting impression ;) I'm actually quite fond of Hooky... And to answer your prophecy question, just read this chapter. I tried to make the prophecy as tangled and intriguing as possible to give the readers something to think about. And thank you for your compliment about the detail in the animals. You're actually correct, Hooky and Shani are going to play a role in the story, later on, but of course, I'm not going to give anything else away ;) Thanks for the grammatical note. That is also probably my fault. I don't really pay attention to that when I'm typing. Minkx is currently combing through and editing the next 4 chapters of our story for errors, though we're keeping the numbers for things like "4th" or "2nd". Mare and Minkx also greatly appreciate your review and we thank you for choosing to follow our story. **

**A. N. Mouse: (Night) Thank you for reviewing! Also, everyone seems to find Marcus extremely intriguing. And here is the prophecy you have been waiting for, it's somewhere in the beginning of this chapter. And have you really never seen the name "Andrea" used in a story? I find it to be a rather pretty name and I thought its meaning suited Andrea's stubborn, practical personality. **

**DISCLAIMER: Night, Mare, and Minkx do not own the Harry Potter book or movie series, those belong to J.K. Rowling. Night, Mare, and Minkx only own the OCs they have created, the prophecy that Night created, and this story. **

**Please read and review. (Enjoy everyone!) **

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The hazy face opened its mouth and began to speak in a monotone voice, the words ringing clearly through the train car, sending shivers through her spine, feeling somewhat foreboding.

"_The time will come when magic will fade from the world….The world will be thrown into chaos….Only two united will be enough to stop it….The girl whose happiness rings out in the silvery form of the wild winged creature of myths…She will be born of the magical and the magic-less and will wield a wand of fiery heart and healing wood….The boy must choose…The boy whose soul is haunted by the raven…He will be born on the day when the world is in complete darkness and the moon has swallowed the sun….Born and bred of magic…Without them…wizards and witches shall fade from existence…."_

"That's insane-"

"It's not insane, it's amazing but did she, Luna, I mean I know it sounds crazy, but it was definitely her that made the prophecy-"

"Yeah! She said what sounded like a warning- wizards and witches will fade from existence!" Marcus exclaimed, turning to Andrea in a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

"What came before that? Right it was about the boy of the prophecy! There was definitely something about his birthday-" Andrea started to recall the line of the prophecy but her voice dwindled off as she inwardly recited it to herself.

"Who could remember that all in one go? Not unless you took notes or something?" Marcus threw a side glance at Andrea before reaching over and snatching the crystal ball in Andrea's hand, the unbroken one that she had been gripping tightly while watching the mirage of Luna Lovegood. Andrea gave a start, caught unaware as the ball slipped into Marcus' grasp.

"Hey!" Andrea protested, leaping up- too late, as the ball, recklessly thrown by Marcus, hit with a hard thud against the floor across from them. There was a brief moment of stretched, tense silence- before the ball rolled towards Andrea again, unharmed. "Hmm...I wonder what this is for..." said Andrea musingly as she put the ball in one of the pockets of her bag. She smirked when, out of the corner of her eye, Marcus looked quite maddened.

"Marcus…Don't just snatch things." Andrea turned to look at her friend who looked if anything, disappointed, rather than remorseful. She was glad to notice however, that the dead pallor had left his face, and he looked alive and well invested in his surroundings.

"Seriously, what do you think this means though?" Marcus asked, not to be deterred from this interesting new development.

Sighing, Andrea tucked a loose strand of black hair behind her ear before answering, "Well, there's two people mentioned in this prophecy, and they're identified by certain traits or attributes. It's a boy and a girl, so maybe that's why that girl that just came in here thought that we were the ones-"

"Hey you don't think she was Luna's granddaughter?" Marcus looked pleased with himself at this conclusion.

Andrea however, was not impressed, "Oh yes, very good Marcus, she comes in here and says 'my great-grandmother made these'- and hands us the prophecy- of course she is! And plus that girl looked like she was positively sleep walking, or I don't know- living in her own little world of dreams and what not, and you know Luna Lovegood had a reputation for being exactly like that!" Andrea finished vehemently, looking out the window, not quite frustrated with her companion but with the mystery of the allusions of the prophecy. "And except- well it was a problem when I told her my patronus was a horse wasn't it?"

"What- why? Your patronus has always been like that."

"Yes! But remember?" Andrea had been pacing around the compartment up until this point and now sat down next to Marcus again, noticing that the familiar lake of Hogwarts was now fast approaching. "The girl who is mentioned in the prophecy has a patronus with wings!"

"I'll trade you, my patronus is a damn ugly thing." Marcus said ruefully as he retrieved his bag from the overhead.

"Your patronus?" Andrea asked, as they stepped off the train.

Marcus replied in an absent-minded, almost distant tone that sent shivers down her back again, catching a trace more of that dangerous leopard-like person he'd transformed into a mere hour ago at the platform nine and three quarters.

"A raven, actually."

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><p>Krynne Malfoy looked out her compartment window of the train to Hogwarts. Krynne could already make out the familiar dark spires in the distance, which stood in stark contrast to the high, sunny skies. Autumn had not yet touched Hogwarts or any of the surrounding forests and glades. Despite the jovial back-to-school atmosphere in the Gryffindor train car, however, Krynne could only look bleakly at her surroundings. Then Krynne chastised herself for not being excited like the rest of the Gryffindor 4th years in the car.<p>

It's an overwhelming relief to be back at Hogwarts after a summer taking care of the Malfoy triplets at the main house, she reminded herself. It wasn't the two-year old siblings, however, that Krynne was relieved about leaving. She was rather fond of her two brothers' twin pairs of stormy blue eyes and her sister's delicate blonde hair. And it wasn't the dull pain of her father's mysterious absence that made Krynne want some distance from home. It was the mansion itself. Even after the renovations, the Malfoy household retained a foreboding atmosphere reminiscent of sinister artifacts and chattels from the time of Voldemort.

Krynne twirled her finger around hair and looked at the white-blonde lock absentmindedly. Her glazed eyes passed over a single black strand of hair, then widened in fright. She closed her eyes in concentration, then opened her brown eyes again. It was just my imagination, she told herself, My hair never looks black. Krynne looked around the car to check if anyone had been watching her. A passing Gryffindor 4th year gaily handed out Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Krynne mutely accepted a handful of the jelly beans and mustered her sunniest smile as thanks. The 4th year looked back in recognition of Krynne and shouted, "Hey, look who's been hiding from us this whole time! It's Krynne!"

Krynne recognized many of her classmates, who flashed grins at her and headed towards her seat. She stood up warily and quickly surveyed the masses of 4th years crowding next to her. To her surprise, even a few 2nd years had snuck in.

"So," she said weakly, "are you ready for 'ol Professor Binns again?"

All the 4th years groaned and rolled their eyes. Then, the train lurched sideways as it turned, jolting everyone and everything in the car to the right. A young first year toppled into a house of cards, and the makeshift table it was standing on fell over him. At that moment, Krynne mechanically whispered, _Mobiliarbus. Impedimenta. Flipendo. _

The table lifted itself off the student and the boy was transported next to her. The disarrayed house of cards slowed its descent to the ground and reversed its direction. The cards headed towards Krynne's lap and assembled itself into the Eiffel Tower. Recovering from their shock, the 4th years starting cheering. "As expected from Gryffindor's best magic-user. You barely needed to use your wand."

Krynne looked away in embarrassment and nudged her phoenix feather and ash wand back into her pocket. "It wasn't really much," she said, "I'm going out... for a while." She helped the dazed boy to his feet and then walked towards the door. When Krynne looked back to check the faces of her friends the Gryffindor train compartment door had already closed. How, how, how did I become the unofficial leader of the 4th years? Why did the Wizarding Hat even put me in Gryffindor? I don't belong… She just wanted to someone else for a while. Krynne listlessly walked down the hallway towards the restroom. Upon coming in, she could smell the putrid odor. Well, she had to make do. Krynne glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Moments later, a dark-haired girl appeared from the restroom. Being a Metamorphmagi was useful sometimes. Her brown eyes glinted with apprehensive but mischievous anticipation. She walked quickly down the narrow space between the walls of the train. Light seeped out the door and window of a nearby private compartment. The Gryffindor 4th year hurried over and peered through the window. Inside, chanting came from the glowing image of the prophetess Luna Lovegood. Panning across the room, the girl saw Lorelei, the spitting image of Luna Lovegood. The 4th years Andrea and Marcus listened in calm transfixion. "Magic will fade from the world…Wizards and witches shall fade from existence…" The black-haired girl leaned against the wall, the pallor of her face and the fear in her eyes evidently showing.

"No, no, no," the girl murmured, hurriedly walking back to the Gryffindor compartment. "Why don't they realize the disaster that has befallen the world of magic?"Back in the Gryffindor compartment, Krynne feebly smiled as she returned to her seat. She looked pale; she knew it. Her mind was occupied on other thoughts for the rest of the ride to Hogwarts.

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><p><strong>Please review and submit feedback about our story. We appreciate any helpful criticism or comments we get. <strong>

**In case you're curious, here's a list of who created which OCs, etc. **

**Andrea Orpheo was created by Night**

**Krynne Malfoy was created by Minkx (She also wrote the entire section with Krynne in it since Mare and Night are not familiar enough with her character to write for her yet)**

**Marcus Valenski was created by Mare**

**The Prophecy was created by Night (Night: I had a lot of fun with this. Untangle this if you can, readers! XD I'm pretty sure Mare had trouble untangling this so in the end, I just gave her an explanation...)**

**Lorelei Lovegood who may or may not make a further appearance was created by Night and Mare. (They brainstormed the idea for her character together and Night eventually wrote the section with her.)**

**Bye for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Night here! You should all probably know by now that I'm the one who does the updating. Anyway, I wasn't planning on updating the next chapter for another day or two, but due to extreme boredom, I've decided to do it early.  
>Also, Mare, Minkx, and I have worked out a writing system. Instead of having all of us write one chapter together, we are now each taking turns writing a whole chapter. Mare wrote this chapter, since it is her turn to write. We also have 3 other chapters besides this one that we have yet to publish on this website, and an 8th chapter that Minkx is currently writing. <strong>

**In response to the review:**

**Willholmer: Hello Willholmer, good to be hearing from you. And thank you for the comment on our "impeccable grammar" and umm...good to hear you're not ashamed of Minkx? And yes, we are rather proud we managed to accumulate 3 reviews (well, not counting yours, since you reviewed due to your relations with Minkx or because Minkx told you about the story). We're not very sure how long this story will be, though we have the general plot in mind and we do plan on making it as interesting as possible. It saddens us to hear that you will no longer be reading this story, but thank you for reading and reviewing up until now. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy whatever other fanfictions you may read on this website. **

**Hmmm...did I sound to formal when answering the reviews? I apologize if I made people nervous with my formality...**

**DISCLAIMER: NIGHT, MARE, AND MINKX DO NOT OWN THE HARRY POTTER BOOK OR MOVIE SERIES. THOSE ALL BELONG TO J.K. ROWLING. NIGHT, MARE, AND MINKX ONLY OWN THEIR OCS AND THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY. **

**Anyway, read and review.**

**Enjoy the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4 <strong>

After walking sopping wet to the Great Hall and drying off there during the feast, Marcus had headed off to the Slytherin Common room. Andrea meanwhile had sat with her Ravenclaw friends in their common room, laughing about the new ridiculous bust of Rowena by the hearth. She had excitedly told them about the prophecy, hoping that they might be able to collectively think of something, using the wits that their house was known for. However, they had not come up with anything that could be used for solid evidence as to who the prophecy pointed to, when she mentioned that Marcus' patronus was a raven, there was an argument about the fact that this was at the same time, an uncommon animal patronus, but also representative of eviler things that might as well be abundant in Slytherin. Andrea had disputed the latter because after Marcus had told her that his patronus was a raven on the train, she questioned him unabashedly until he told her that the only raven patronus he had seen in his house or otherwise had been his. Plus, she had insisted, the prophecy said "Born and bred of magic," Marcus was a pure blood, the child in the prophecy was a pureblood, and how many purebloods with raven patronuses did they know? Before falling asleep, Andrea had promised herself she would go to the library to look up more information about the prophecy. A nagging feeling kept at her though, because there was the fact that Marcus could be the child of the prophecy, and then where was she, his best friend? Not someone with a flying patronus for sure…

Amidst the clatter of magical plates popping up in the middle of the air before landing on the red tablecloth, Andrea met up with Marcus to discuss the prophecy.

"Oh, let it go Andrea, I was only pulling your leg, my patronus is really a gorilla." Marcus laughed, already distracted as he was jostled by his Slytherin friends; somehow the long bench was almost empty with ten people on it but Marcus was falling off as his friends pushed him.

"Really Marcus? You want to be the one in the prophecy, you were practically rubbing it in my face last night-"

"That's what she said." A blond boy with his hair cut into a mushroom style had appeared at Marcus' side, one of his arms slung casually over the others' shoulder.

"Anthony- help me!" Marcus cried jokingly as he was finally shoved off the bench. "She's eating me alive here, this one."

"Better listen to your girlfriend-" This boy named Anthony drawled.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Andrea admonished, eyeing this newcomer with a disdain.

"Once a Ravenclaw always a nagggg-" Anthony insisted, staring at Andrea now.

Andrea shot an irate glance at Marcus who looked away with a grin-

"Alright, alright Anthon- she's not my girlfriend, and I think we're about to go get our schedules-"

"Nice meeting you! I've got to go get my schedule" Anthony interrupted with a short bow towards Andrea, leaving her completely boggled at his behavior.

"Hufflepuff?" She commented.

"I keep him as a pet of sorts-" Marcus said, his eyes following Anthony to his table where he had sat down. "What do you have first?"

"Double Potions. I'll see you there." Andrea said leaning over Marcus' shoulder to read his schedule and then walking away.

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><p>Potions, as Andrea had expected, had been a breeze to return to after the summer. As also expected, Marcus was faring no better than last year, and even managed to somehow solidify his Shrinking potion. Andrea noticed that he didn't seem to be too miffed about it though, the fact that he was too lazy to bother decoding the directions that were covered by splatters from the potion was an indication of this. Knowing Marcus however, she had her suspicions about the seemingly nonchalant attitude.<p>

"You know," Andrea interjected, grabbing Marcus' hand before he could add another strand of unicorn hair to his bubbling, sinister concoction, "Remaking a potion in the same cauldron without emptying it out isn't going to get you anywhere." She said, narrowing her eyes at Marcus, who merely smiled and answered, pushing the sophorus bean from his cutting board into the cauldron, "I'm really trying Andrea, you've got to give me some credit here." He winked and before Andrea could stop him, added a bunch of random ingredients that she was certain were not in the instructions. "There, we'll just let that brew." The potion in Marcus' cauldron now turned an alarming red and was frothing and foaming enthusiastically over the edges, all unbeknownst to Marcus who had ducked under the table.

"Marcus!" Andrea hissed, spotting Proffesor Wilkes, a middle aged witch with a stern face, across the room before putting her head very quickly underneath their desk, black hair hitting Marcus in the face.

"Ack! You found me!" Marcus whispered in mock surprise. Andrea stared at him, waiting for an explanation, however, Marcus turned back to what he was doing- now she could see that he was reading a book- without a word.

"Marcus!" Andrea said with more urgency. "What are you doing?" But before Marcus could open his mouth, Andrea decided that the potion now dripping onto his chair in ominous, large glops, was the bigger concern.

"Aguamenti!" choked Andrea, handling the problem in the nick of time as a small fire had just started at the bottom, eating away the edges of the cauldron. "Epartenum Sipholus!" The potion started swirling and conforming itself into a funnel, rather like a fondue pot swirls cheese, and Andrea siphoned it into her wand while muttering under her breath. She was not saying more spells of course, but threatening Marcus with death in a number of creative ways. After averting disaster, Andrea looked around for Marcus, and was displeased to see him by the vials, resembling test tubes that they would have to use to submit their potions in by the end of the class.

"Andrea!" Professor Wilkes called as Andrea was just about to call out to Marcus. Sighing, she headed towards her teacher instead.

"I see you are done with your potion, and rather than cleaning up after your friend over there-" Andrea blushed slightly as Ms. Wilkes continued, "Would you two be so indisposed as to hand out those vials by my table which Marcus is at?"

Nodding at this, Andrea quickly went to see what Marcus was doing. Surprisingly he didn't seem to be holding anything suspicious, but why was he holding his hand like a cup then? Half curious, half anticipating major trouble, Andrea drew closer to Marcus.

"Andrea! Come look at this!" Marcus said enthusiastically once he noticed her at the table.

"What?" Said Andrea, now glancing at Marcus' palm. There didn't seem to anything there.

"Miniature dungbombs!" Marcus said devilishly, "One drop of shrinking potion on each one, brilliant, 'innit?" Looking closer, Andrea could now see what at first looked like dust were in fact, very, very minute dungbombs.

"But how did you get yours to work?" Andrea said, impressed against her will.

"Oh." Said Marcus, having emptied the last of his dungbombs into the vials at Andrea's end of the table. Andrea waited, tipping out as many dungbombs as possible when Marcus wasn't looking, but Marcus had already gathered up some vials in hand. "I didn't." He said over his shoulder, "I used yours."

Andrea's expression changing from surprise to confusion to reluctant amusement was lost on Marcus, who, after distributing his vials, gathered up his bags and left class in the middle of lots of puffs, bangs and smoke.

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><p><strong>Well, that's it. Chapter 4. Mare just couldn't resist having Marcus play a trick in Potions Class, so we let her. The next chapter will be a bit more serious...and that's probably because I was the one who wrote it and I couldn't resist adding a bit more drama. <strong>

**The OCs belong to:**

**Andrea Orpheo belongs to Night**

**Marcus Valenski belongs to Mare**

**Potions Teacher belongs to Mare**

**Anthony belongs to Mare (He may or may not make a further appearance. Even if he does, he's probably just going to be a minor/background character because we really don't have a role in mind for him, other than acting as one of Marcus's friends.)**

**Anyway, please review and submit feedback, as always. We appreciate helpful criticism since Mare, Minkx, and I are rather young writers and we're still learning and improving upon our writing. But please do keep in mind that Mare, Minkx, and I are _also_ trying to have a bit of fun with this. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! Night here! It's my turn to write a chapter, so I wrote chapter 5, which is below. You'll see a new OC in this chapter. ;) **

**We didn't get any reviews for the past chapter, so of course, there is no "responding to reviews" section. **

**DISCLAIMER: NIGHT, MARE, AND MINKX DO NOT OWN THE HARRY POTTER BOOK SERIES OR MOVIE SERIES. THOSE BELONG TO J.K. ROWLING. WE MERELY OWN OUR OCS AND THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY.**

**Please read and review!**

**Enjoy the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

"Idiot, stupid Marcus…using up half of my potion to make miniature stink bombs…" Andrea muttered under her breath in her History of Magic class. She tapped her quill against her desk, sighing.

She missed the familiar weight of her pencils and pens, which unlike quill ink, could easily be erased with her trusty pink erasers or dabbed out with handy White-Out. And unlike quills- she glared at the outrageous, unwieldy feather in her hand- they didn't splatter ink everywhere.

Andrea rubbed at an ink splatter on her paper, throwing a glance out the window beside her desk, reminding herself once again to change seats so she'd stop getting distracted by the view out of the window (which, she admitted, was far more interesting than her actual class).

Her gaze was drawn to the large clock-tower standing proudly beside the courtyard, checking the time on the tower's large face, examining its rickety, black arms.

One minute until twelve o'clock.

The long, minute arm shuddered, and she absentmindedly pushed her piece of parchment in front of her, poking at it with her quill to make it seem like she was doing some of her work. As if it mattered.

The arm finally grudgingly made it to the large mark on the clock face and the bells of the clock tower chimed.

Twelve o'clock.

She returned her attention to the dusty classroom, waiting for-

"Hem-hem. Mrs. Opium. Would you please name one of the last surviving locations that was used as part of the Goblin Rebellion and when it was used, as well as how it served its purpose?"

Andrea straightened, noticing that even some of her fellow Ravenclaws were slumbering, deciding to spend their attention on more worthwhile classes.

Professor Binns stood, well floated, in the front of the classroom, waiting for the answer. He was nothing but a silvery-whitish form that tapered off somewhere below his calves into misty vapor, his features vaguely defined by the hazy edges of whatever mist-like, vaporous substance he was made out of.

"Now, think hard about this, Mrs. Opium. It's a very difficult question," he said in his monotonous voice, not noticing the fact that the answer happened to be written behind him on the chalkboard, and with his half-invisible state, any half-wit who hadn't gone blind could see the answer written in large chalk letters.

"Hogsmeade Village, the 3 Broomsticks Inn. It was used as Wizard headquarters in the Goblin Rebellions of…"

She peered at the answer that lay innocently in white on the dark board, the numbers half-distorted by his misty shape, but still visible enough for her to read.

"Sixteen…twelve. 1612."

"Very good, Mrs. Oakwood."

Professor Binns turned back to his lesson, pointing a ghostly finger at something written on the board and continued his droning.

Andrea rolled her eyes. She hadn't even bothered to correct him on the fact that she was a "Ms." not a "Mrs.", since as far as she knew, she had no husband, and that her last name was "Orpheo" not "Opium". It was the same every class.

She slumped down again, following the example of her fellow classmates. Not even Ravenclaws bothered to look like they were paying attention. His lessons were always the same.

Every house had already developed their own system for this. The Gryffindors kept a trunk in their common room that contained ancient notes from roughly 50-100 years ago, all magically-preserved scribbles that past students had left behind. (Though much to the Gryffindor house's students' disappointment, there existed no notes from Hermione Granger, the famous, clever witch who had aided Harry Potter. In fact, she'd left a specific note on the bottom of the trunk saying clearly that she disapproved of this method of so-called "cheating") The Hufflepuffs, true to their hardworking, honest principles, had been hesitant of even making a system in the first place, but in the end, they began to take turns taking notes for each other, each Hufflepuff having a specific day of the month when he or she would take notes for all of the other Hufflepuff students. The Slytherins bribed (or blackmailed) the other students into borrowing their notes. And the Ravenclaws had all taken their separate approaches on it, one student inventing a machine that wrote down whatever was being said in the room (unfortunately, it not only took down what Professor Binns said, but a few of the conversations that were going on in the room, making the notes puzzling and difficult to read), others relying on a mixture of memory, brief notes, and their History of Magic book (like Andrea did), a few buying the notes from students from other houses, and a few still bothering to take notes the "old-fashioned" way.

"….in 1761, Wiglaf the Wise drew up a treaty between wizards and goblins…"

She scribbled down the date on her parchment, preferring not to trust it to her mind, which seemed to have a black hole where numbers and dates were supposed to go.

Andrea dipped her brown, standard eagle-feather quill into the inkwell, examining her neat handwriting on the parchment, her letters standing straight up like little, black and white soldiers. She couldn't help but think what a shame it would be when the ink would get all smudged when she placed the parchment in her bag. Just another disadvantage of quills. Why on earth would the magical society, which was at least 5 times more advanced than the muggle society, still use these damnable quills that the muggles had thrown away after the invention of the ink pen!

"_Hey,"_

Her hand jerked suddenly, causing her inkwell to topple, the little ink container rolling about, leaving a trail of black like a slug would with its slime across the desk, before it rolled over the table's edge and crashed onto the floor in shards

She groaned, pulling out her wand, raising it to cast a whispered spell, when suddenly, a tanned hand reached out and gently pushed her wand down.

"_Hanhon,_ no. _Cate sice. _My mistake, I clean up."

The voice was unfamiliar to her, though it was heavily accented.

The hand disappeared behind her for a moment, and when it returned, it held a wand that was made out of unusually light-colored wood and had some carvings on the top of it.

The hand flicked the wand quickly, the unidentified voice behind her murmuring, "Reparo."

The pieces of the ink container formed together again, the cracks sealing as if they were never there.

"Accio."

The heavily-accented voice spoke again, the ink container flying behind her.

A finger tapped her shoulder and she turned around, a very tanned boy with wavy, dark black hair and twinkling, brown-black eyes holding an ink container out towards her.

"_Cate sice_," he said, flashing surprisingly-white teeth in a smile, when suddenly, realizing his mistake, he grimaced, saying apologetically, "Ah! _Glusna! _Sorry, my mistake."

He held out the ink container again, and Andrea took it, placing it back on her desk.

"Thanks," she said.

"My English is…not very good…" he said, grimacing again.

She nodded sympathetically.

"Why didn't the teachers give you a Language Charm? It would have saved you a lot of trouble."

"I want to…speak? _Hanhon…_Prove?" the boy pondered, for a bit, looking slightly displeased at his lack of mastery of the English language.

"Improve?" Andrea suggested softly.

"_Ha!_ Improve!" he cried out loudly, with a look of satisfaction on his face, "I want to em-improve my English!"

She snuck a quick look at Professor Binns to assure that he hadn't caught wind of their rather loud conversation. Instead, he seemed to still be droning on about the Goblin Revolutions.

"Shh…" she cautioned quietly, lifting a finger up to her lips, while her other hand gestured towards Professor Binns.

His eyes flitted to the professor, his gaze darkening as he saw the professor's hand move to brush a book, his hand passing through as he did so.

"Binns, yes? He is man that has never passed into _Wanagiyata_? _Iyokosice_…" he lowered his head, "Sad…"

Andrea tilted her head to the side, something she'd grown into the habit of doing when she was curious.

"What's sad?"

The boy gestured to Professor Binns. "The _wana gi. _He never goes with his family. Stuck in this world. Not _ni_, not _te. _Stuck. _Wana gi._"

She began to feel a bit awkward.

"Umm…sorry. I don't understand."

"_Wana gi_," he repeated, frowning, biting his lip in concentration, "No…_te_ but hasn't gone to _Wanagiyata_. Stuck."

Andrea shook her head.

"I can't understand what you're saying," she said, and then added uneasily, "Sorry…"

"Not your fault," he said, wincing, "it is my English."

"Well…what did you want to ask me?"

"What?"

"You must have a reason for talking to me…"

The boy gave her a curious look.

"Reason? I talk for…companionship?" He tried the word on his tongue, twisting his lips awkwardly as if he were trying to capture it. A smile threatened to appear on Andrea's face at the boy's silly faces, and she pressed her lips together firmly, trying to stop it from appearing.

He stuck his tongue out, letting it hang like a dog's.

"Such a long word!" he complained.

And that was where her self-control ended. Andrea laughed loudly, clamping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

He grinned.

"That is _ehate_!"

She paused for a moment before asking, "Laughter?"

He laughed, pointing at himself, "_Ehate_!"

She nodded, before saying carefully, enunciating the syllables, "Laughter."

"Laugh-ter?"

She nodded once more.

The boy looked delighted at this new word.

"I am Wambleeska," he declared proudly, pointing to himself.

"Andrea," she said in turn, before adding, "Nice to meet you…"

Andrea trailed off, worried that she would end up butchering his Native American name.

Wambleeska seemed to have the same problem with her name, and finally, he smiled, embarrassed, and stated, "Hard to pronounce. I can call you another name?"

"Sure."

Wambleeska glanced at her up and down with a penetrating gaze, as if he were not merely looking at a person but solving some complex puzzle or equation. He bit his lip, black pebble-eyes solemn as he stared into hers while Andrea wondered what he could possibly be seeing.

"My eyes are blue," she said helpfully.

"_Kiya_."

"What?"

"_Kiya" _he declared, "You are _Kiya_."

Andrea shrugged, deciding that his mistake in saying "you are" instead of "I will call you" was merely due to his lack of knowledge on the English language. She wondered if she should also tell him that she had difficulty pronouncing his name, though she had no idea what else she'd call him. Bob? Wamby? Bambi?

She snorted at the last one, imagining the Native American boy with large, brown eyes and antlers.

Wambleeska stared at her inquisitively.

"Kiya's fine," she assured the boy.

He gave a satisfied nod which reminded her oddly of Louis Ollivander, the current owner of the Ollivander's wand shop, and how he had had that same satisfied look on his face when she'd found her wand, dragon heartstring and hazel wood, and sent a cascade of sparks flying down the shelves of the store, that same proud smile on his face, the satisfied look of someone who'd accomplished his or her goal on his face.

Wambleeska pointed back at himself and repeated the same two unknown words to her once more.

"_Ni_,"

He put his hand on his chest, towards the upper-left spot where his heart resided.

"Heart?" Andrea guessed.

He shook his head furiously, causing his wavy black hair to fly about in messy bits.

"_Ni!"_ he said with more emphasis, pointing to himself.

"_Ni, ni, ni, ni_!" he pointed to every Ravenclaw in the room, some of whom where already giving Wambleeska and Andrea odd glances, finding them more interesting then Professor Binns' lesson.

"_Ni_!" he pointed to Andrea.

Then, he turned so he was facing Professor Binns.

"Not _ni_!"

"Alive?"

"_Ha_!" he crowed out in triumph, pointing to himself, "_Ni! _Alive!_"_

"Not _ni_, not a-live," he said, explaining rapidly, "_te_."

"Dead!" Andrea told Wambleeska, the boy's infectious happiness starting to get to her.

"_Ha! _Yes!," he said, shouting loudly now, "_Te!_"

The word echoed across the room, waking 3 sleeping RavenClaws and causing all eyes to now gaze upon Wambleeska and Andrea, even Professor Binns falling silent.

There was silence for a moment, the word echoing through the dusty confines of the room, some even escaping the room through the ajar door to echo down the hallway in small whispers.

"_Te-te-te," _the room whispered, throwing the small word across the stone walls and back again. It seemed no longer to be the word that had sprung merrily from Wambleeska's mouth, but it seemed almost as if Hogwarts itself was murmuring the word in dry, husky tones.

"_Te-te-te…"_ said the murmurs insistently, millions of dusty voices overlapping.

"_Te-te-te"_

And then there was a voice, heard in the sound of a scream.

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><p><strong>Haha, another cliffhanger. This one, I suppose is my fault. I'm getting addicted to cliffhangers. <strong>

**The person who wrote this chapter: Night**

**The OCs belong to:  
><span>Marcus Valenski<span> belongs to Mare**

**Andrea Orpheo belongs to Night**

**Wambleeska belongs to Night**

**The next chapter is already written and will come out soon. I, Night, had to write it becaause I made a cliffhanger at the end of this one T_T**

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, this is Minkx! I'm updating Chapter 6, which Night wrote. I hope you'll like it!**

**I'm extremely sorry for this late update. It's been a couple of weeks since the last one, but hopefully you guys don't think that we've abandoned this story. We most certainly want to keep this going.**

**Disclaimer (as usual): The Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowling, not Night, Mare, or me. Our OCs are original, though.**

**Chapter 6**

Silence reigned through the air for a while longer, shocked students straightening from their slouching positions, glancing about to find the source of the scream.

There was the scraping of chairs as students stood up abruptly, their path of action chosen, the fluttering of ink-splattered paper drifting to the ground, knocked over by careless movements, even a few quills lying, discarded, on the cold stone floor.

The students ignored Professor Binns' protests as one of the more curious Ravenclaws threw the door open and ventured out into the hallway, peering this way and that, followed by a group of three more students.

Andrea hesitated, glancing down at her paper and then back up at Professor Binns. He was now making an active attempt to stop the students from getting through the door, but with little success.

She watched as he reached his ghostly hand out towards where his wand lay, dusty and ancient, though his hand continuously passed through it, dissipating into blue-gray mist as it reached the object and reforming after another failed attempt.

In her entire four years at Hogwarts, she had never really seen Professor Binns in such an animated state.

"Students! Stop!" he yelled in his hollow voice, his tone not his usual monotone sounding almost as if he were…panicking?

He drifted in front of the mass of students now, waving his ghostly arms desperately.

"Please! Do not pass!"

What could be so important that even Professor Binns would be upset? She studied him carefully. This was the first time he had ever even seemed to be more than a robot.

Some of the students passed through him, one accidentally dropping their bag in the rush, causing his foot to disappear into a cloud of mist before reforming as the bag was retrieved.

"Don't-"

Andrea watched as his entire form shuddered for a minute, almost like one of those old-fashioned muggle televisions when their transmission was bad. His shape wavered, blurring even more than before until he seemed to be just a floating cloud of bluish mist, rapidly drifting apart as the students disturbed it.

She took in a sharp breath at this, her hand gripping the desk. Despite her house's reputation for resourcefulness and intelligence, she had no idea what to make of the situation. None of the other students had even appeared to notice the Professor's unusual circumstance, since they were all too busy shoving and pushing to get out into the hallway.

"P-professor Binns…are you alright?" she asked, hesitantly, raising her voice over the crowd, sliding her things into her bag and standing on her tiptoes at the edge of the crowd, watching the mist fade away in the air while her hands shook as she held the bag.

What had just happened?

Andrea stood there, shivering for a moment despite the warmth radiating from the crowded mass of human bodies a mere few inches away from her.

She watched it dumbly for a while, staring at the space where the ghostly professor had been as she was shoved here and there by the crowd, stumbling about on her feet.

"Move it already!" a brown-haired boy said, pushing her aside.

What was his name again? Barry? Hilbert? At this moment, she could barely remember, her gaze still fixed upon that spot where Professor Binns had disappeared, watching it as it bobbed in and out of view.

Andrea allowed herself to be swept out of the classroom and into the hallway, where many Gryffindors, true to their house's reputation of bravery, had already gathered to scout out the source of the scream, and many Ravenclaws had also already arrived, succeeding in outsmarting their teachers and sneaking out of their classes. A few teachers were also in the hallways, yelling for order as their classes fought to get to the door.

Looking around, she didn't see Marcus or the Slytherins anywhere. She leaned against the wall, her breathing quickened by the sudden picturing in her mind again of the professor as he had disappeared and her helplessness.

Suddenly, a small hand grabbed her wrist lightly.

"_Kiya," _she heard someone beside her whisper insistently.

Andrea looked up to see Wambleeska, noticing, a bit surprised, that he was perhaps a few inches taller than her.

"The _wana gi_. You saw him…" he searched for a word for a bit, pausing, "go away?"

She nodded, slightly relieved that she hadn't been the only one to see him vanish.

"I couldn't do anything," she blurted out rapidly, "Professor Binns just became mist and he vanished."

Andrea shuddered again, feeling helpless in this sudden occurrence, something she'd be unprepared for and couldn't have possibly predicted.

"_Iwastegla!" _he said, throwing his hands up, "Slowly! Not your fault."

"_Oniya_," Wambleeska said, "Breathe. _Wana gi _will return. Binns is not in _Wanagiyata_, so he is here."

The boy sympathetically helped her sit in an empty spot at the corner of the hallway, sitting down himself as well, folding his long limbs awkwardly.

"How do you know he'll return?" she asked, attempting to steady her breathing.

"He is not in _Wanagiyata_. He must be here. Nowhere else," Wambleeska smiled again, tapping the side of his head, "I know. Trust me."

Andrea grimaced back, rubbing her arms in the places where goose-bumps had risen.

"Thanks," she said.

They sat there, sitting cross-legged on the cobblestones for a while, a little bubble of tranquility. Andrea sighed, rocking back and forth, when suddenly a very familiar mop of auburn hair appeared, the owner of the hair grasping her hand and pulling her up roughly.

"Come on!" Marcus said impatiently, "The action is at the Training Grounds!"

"Hold on!" Andrea protested, slightly exasperated at how often Marcus seemed to believe he could drag her off to do whatever his heart pleased.

"You've forgotten Wam-Wam-bleeska!"

She hoped she hadn't butchered his name too badly.

"Oh, alright," Marcus said, grabbing Wambleeska's hand as well, "Wamby or whatever your name is, you're going to have to come along."

Marcus proceeded in dragging them through the courtyard and various other locations in the school until they reached the Herbology greenhouses, in which he was forced to slow down.

"Honestly," Marcus declared, throwing his arms in the air as he finally let go of Wambleeska and Andrea's hands, "You get a perfect excuse to escape from class AND you have the old Dustbin as your teacher, who can't even stop you, and I find you sitting on the floor with Wasabi!"

"Marcus!" she scolded, falling into their usual, yet odd schoolmarm and bad student roles, "That's impolite!"

"So?" he turned his attention to Wambleeska, and he looked slightly indignant as he noticed their difference in height, the top of Marcus's head only reaching Wambleeska's eyes.

Andrea smirked as she saw him attempt to straighten up in his cowboy boots nad attempt to look taller.

Marcus told him, rather bluntly and with a hint of jealousy sparking in his eyes (probably about his height), "Your name is too long!"

Wambleeska shrugged, ignoring his rude remarks, "You can call me _Wabi_. You are _Kiya's_ friend?"  
>Marcus, in turn, ignored what Wambleeska had said and declared decisively, "I'll call you Wasabi."<p>

He shrugged once more, though this time, there was a small grin on his face, "I will call you _Gnaye_."

"By the way, could you make a Language Charm?" Andrea asked.

Marcus had a pained expression on his face as he looked at her.

"No 'hello' or 'good to see you'?" he asked.

"Oh come on Marcus," she said, and in a slightly more wheedling tone, "You're the best at charms…"

"For what language?"

"Native American to English."

"Then no. It's for the Wasabi guy, isn't it?"

"Well…what's so wrong with making _Wabi _a Language Charm?"

"I hate him and he's calling me 'gay'. And why is he so tall? He looks like some giraffe from a muggle zoo…"

"He didn't call you 'gay', he's calling you _Gnaye_, a Native American word. And it's your fault for not eating a proper diet, don't go blaming poor Wabi."

"I've been your friend for _centuries_, he's only known you for _seconds_!"

"That's an exaggeration!"

"Shhhh!" Professor Mcgonagall hushed them as she drifted by, lifting one of her transparent, bluish-gray fingers up to her lips. She had taught here many years ago, and with no children or grandchildren to become attached to, she had stayed here after her death as well.

Andrea caught sight of a large crowd in the Training Grounds ahead of them, and they made their way into the crowd.

Andrea listened to snippets of the murmurs and the beginnings of mumbled rumors.

"-broomstick just stopped working right underneath him."

"Who knew that could happen?"

"-never knew a broomstick could malfunction."

"Nothing but scrap wood and straw left-"

"First year too-"

Then, the murmurs stopped suddenly, the crowds parting and Andrea and Marcus hurriedly moved to the right side of the crowd. They watched as the school nurse, Ms. Vera Primrose, walked through, an enchanted stretcher floating beside her, a person's outline vaguely visible under a white sheet.

"Out of my way, please," she said sweetly, her unnaturally sky blue eyes looking up through her thick, blonde lashes at Wabi, who obviously hadn't learned the danger of opposing the school nurse yet.

Andrea quickly grasped his wrist and pulled him to the side, and holding him there until the danger of the school nurse passed.

"_Hopa," _Wabi said, a glazed look in his eyes, which still followed the school nurse as she left, "_lila wiya waste._"

Andrea followed his gaze to see the nurse, a young woman with pale, silvery blonde hair and large, doe-like blue eyes.

"Wabi," she said, waving a hand in front of his face, "she's half-_veela_. Trust me, don't bother her. She's got a horrible temper."

"Stupid Wasabi-boy," Marcus remarked, grumpily staring at the floor, "Just let Veela Vera beat him up."

"Hey!" Andrea protested, then added, "As I recall, you tried to flirt with Ms. Vera in _your_ first year."

She snapped her fingers in front of his face and then clapped her hands together as well, trying to bring the boy out of his stupor.

Finally, sighing, she brought out her wand, an eleven inch hazel wand with a core of dragon heartstring.

"_Accio, water_."

A bucket full of water from the well clanked down beside her, and she picked it up, muttered an apology to Wabi, and tossed the bucket's contents in his face.

The results were almost immediate. He sputtered, swallowing some of the water, and he stumbled, sitting down on the ground.

He grunted as he fell, shaking his head as if to clear it.

Andrea repeated slowly, "Ms. Vera is part-veela. She has a really bad temper, so don't bother her."

Wabi looked up sheepishly.

"_Cate sice."_

He ran his hand through his soggy hair, and then he placed the hand down on the ground, only to wince and pull it away.

"What is it?" Andrea asked.

"Sharp stick…" he replied…running his left hand over his right hand to carefully remove a small splinter of wood and toss it aside.

He got up, brushing his robes off, and as he did, Andrea noticed even more splinters of wood lying around in the glass, ranging in size from small ones the size of toothpicks and long ones that were about half the length of a broomstick. There was also a lot of yellowish straw, the kind that were used in broomsticks, scattered about, a few birds already taking some to make nests.

"Some kid probably just fell off of their broomstick," Marcus said, already bored.

Andrea leaned down carefully, to pick up a piece of wood, turning it this way and that to examine the brown coloring and grain. The wood was reddish, almost. Perhaps it was mahogany wood? She dropped it onto the ground, and as she lifted her hand, she noticed something staining them.

Blood.

The reddish color wasn't paint or mahogany…it was literally blood-soaked wood.

**I hope you liked the story! Next chapter, my character, Krynne Malfoy, is making her first substantial appearance. I'm so excited!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! This is Minkx. This is chapter 7; it's longer than our usual chapters. I hope everyone likes it – that is, I hope everyone leaves reviews! Do you remember Krynne Malfoy from Chapter 3? Well, here she is again, along with Andrea, Marcus, Lorelei, and Wabi. **

**Response to past reviews from Ch. 5 and 6:**

**MalevolentSprite: Thanks for the compliment about Chapter 5's ominous ending. Wambleeska is a Lakota Indian, by the way. And we do have something in mind for Wabi. Credit goes to Night for writing Chap 5!**

**Anditrix: I'm glad you liked Chapter 5. I hope you continue reading our fanfic. **

**Willhomer: The chapter's here!**

**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs solely to J. K. Rowling. Night, Mare, and I do not own any part of it, except for the original characters and plotline that we created.**

**Chapter 7**

"Oh, come on, Andrea. You're too serious! The little first year could've just gotten a splinter and some blood on the broomstick. You don't actually believe the horror stories we tell the little first years, do you?" asked Marcus in a friendly manner, to Andrea's great annoyance.

"I'm just being _rational_," snapped Andrea. She carefully picked up Marcus's hand off her head and dropped it. She began again in a calm, decisive voice, "I'm telling you for the umpteenth time, this - " she waved her hand expansively at the disarray of scattered wood and splinters, " - was _not an accident_." Marcus's eyes flashed, then darkened. "I'll tell you who's not being rational. You!" Marcus's face lightened up and he extended his arm out to Andrea, "Let's just go back to our dorms. I was wrong to suggest – "

Suddenly, Wabi's voice cut through their conversation. Wabi had been lying down on the blood-stained grass, lethargically rolling over the wood splinter in his hand, but upon sensing something unusual, Wabi scrambled to his feet with a look of pure panic. Looking away, Wabi murmured, "_Hanhon, Hanhon! Cuwitku Yee Naaldlooshii. Yutokeca Icitokeca wicasa. Iyokisice! Nagi kahlele. We gahe nagi. Cuwitku Yee Naaldlooshii…_"

Andrea and Marcus, who had been immersed entirely in their argument over the cause of the broomstick incident, now stared at Wabi in confusion. Wabi's clouded eyes gazed around, and when they passed over Andrea and Marcus, they produced no recognition. Marcus's eyebrows rose in puzzled amusement, and Andrea shuddered, but they were both drawn to the scene before them. It was as if Wabi could peel through the ordinary layer of the mundane world, and even see beyond the world of magic. Wabi was entranced in a dreamworld of his own creation.

Then Wabi blinked. He paused, shook his dark black hair, then blinked twice more. Although he was still shaking, Wabi seemed to have returned from whatever dreamworld he'd been visiting. Immediately, he walked into the deep shadows behind the Quidditch bleachers. "Hau," said Wabi to the tall blonde-haired girl, his eyes uncomfortably averted. "Hello," Krynne replied, stepping out of the darkness and squinting at the noon light.

Andrea glanced at the new blonde-haired girl with surprise, then excited recognition. Andrea started walking towards the bleachers, and she looked back and motioned for Marcus to come too. Marcus's eyes brightened, and he strode purposefully past Andrea into the shadows, where he pushed Wabi aside. He reached out for the blonde girl's arm in a handshake. "Hi, I'm Marcus. And you are Krynne Malfoy… only the greatest Gryffindor spell caster this century! It's an honor to meet you," said Marcus, still vigorously shaking Krynne's hand. Krynne looked taken aback and at a loss for words for a few seconds. She looked to where Wabi had been standing but he had slunk away. Then she smiled nervously. "Yes… nice to meet you."

With an easygoing smile on his face as always, Marcus continued, "I've been wondering, what's a Malfoy doing in Gryffindor?" Marcus's eyes glinted with mischief. "You're always hiding in the shadows. It seems to me that Malfoys belong in Slytherin, after all." Watching from afar, Andrea saw Krynne Malfoy tense up and gaze impassively at Marcus. He smiled smugly back. Andrea recognized that grin. Marcus must have said something stupid again. He must have discovered a well-guarded secret.

Andrea hurried over to the bleachers where Krynne was ignoring Marcus. She turned around when Wabi lightly touched her shoulder. He gave Andrea a slight smile, then stared gravely with intense pools of brown eyes. "Kiya, you must be careful of the girl. Are wondering what Lakota words I said before? The girl is _Cuwitku Yee Naaldlooshii,_ a Daughter of the Skinwalkers... The skin-changer, she is _Iyokisice_… She is sad, confused in her _nagi_. In her soul. I must go now, Kiya." Wabi looked sympathetically at Krynne, then walked back into the school. Andrea looked back at Wabi. "Wait, how do you know that?" When she received no answer, she shrugged and continued walking, but made a mental note to come back to this conversation.

Up close, Krynne's face was a marble mask devoid of emotion, despite Marcus's crude remarks. But Krynne's piercing dark brown eyes betrayed her furor. Andrea could see the star spell caster's resemblance to her namesake, Malfoy. Andrea hurriedly covered up for Marcus, "Hi, I'm Andrea. Don't mind my friend; he's just – "

Krynne interrupted Andrea in a soft, wry, somewhat sarcastic voice, "Rationally speaking, that was definitely not an accident." Andrea was confused; she had no idea what Krynne was talking about. Then she realized the mockery in Krynne's voice and felt herself flare up in anger. _How dare Krynne make fun of her? How did Krynne even know what she said in her conversation with Marcus?_ Then Andrea looked towards Krynne's line of vision, at the spot where the first year Gryffindor had fallen. Her cognitive senses kicked in, and she understood the meaning of Krynne's words. She remembered trying to convince Marcus that something was up with the first year's broomstick accident. Krynne must have heard their conversation. Maybe she wanted to help. But she sighed inwardly at Krynne's cryptic way of speaking. "I mean, I've been watching you guys for a long time," Krynne said helpfully. Andrea nodded knowingly; she had figured that out already. In the background, Marcus smiled and whispered, "Stalker." Andrea glanced at him harshly, sthen looked back at Krynne. "Can you tell us about the first year who fell off his broomstick? You're in Gryffindor with him, after all." Krynne smiled and said, "I can do better than that. Come, I'll take you to Matthew, our Seeker."

Krynne strode quickly back inside the school. Turning around slightly while walking, she said nervously, "At the Infirmary – after I show you the first year who fell off his broomstick – I have to warn you about the prophec…" Soon Krynne was nowhere in sight, but Andrea and Marcus found the Infirmary themselves. While Marcus tried to twist the locked doorknob, Andrea found herself pondering upon Krynne's yet-again-cryptic words. "Oh, this is great. _Alohamora. Alohamora! _The lock on the door is enchanted. I should've known that only Veela Vera has the enchanted keys. I bet Krynne knew that and chickened out," whined Marcus.

"_Shh_," a person murmured behind the group. Andrea and Marcus abruptly turned around. It was Luna Lovegood's granddaughter, the dreamy-eyed girl who had given them the crystal balls on the train to Hogwarts. Andrea was in the same house(Ravenclaw) as the 4th year, but she always seemed to forget the girl's name. "I'm Lorelei Lovegood," the Seer proclaimed clearly, as if answering to Andrea's thoughts. Lorelei whispered secretively, "I'm waiting for Krynne. My friend should be coming soon." Marcus groaned."Well, join the crowd," he said. But he looked up in surprise when he heard footsteps in the nearby corridor. _Was Lorelei right?_

Marcus never found out, because then Nurse Vera appeared in front of the group. Smiling, Lorelei asked dreamily, "Are you here to help us unlock the Infirmary door?" Nurse Vera frowned when she saw Lorelei. "Somevun informed me ov visitors for the Seeker boy…" Wordlessly, she unlocked the infirmary door and led them through the empty hospital beds to the one that held Matthew. Upon seeing Matthew, Andrea rushed forward and started questioning the hurt Seeker. Marcus walked lazily to the Seeker's bed, and by the time he was at the bed, it appeared as if the Seeker was in too bad a shape to speak. Marcus eyed the boy derisively and asked Andrea and Lorelei, "Well, did Seeker boy speak?" Andrea shook her head. "Not much," she said, "I've only confirmed some rumors about the Broomstick Incident. Matthew said that the broomstick fell of its own accord; 'lost its magic,' he said."

"Well, he's a lost cause," Marcus stated. He looked up from the misshapen boy when Andrea nudged him. Andrea and Marcus moved to a corner of the room to talk, while Lorelei stayed near the bed with Nurse Vera. Andrea said impatiently, "Something spooky happened earlier this morning. About the same time that Matthew's broom 'lost its magic,' Professor Binns disappeared. I saw his ghost outline fading away before my own eyes. Wabi said Binns wasn't in Wanagiyata, Spiritland, yet so I think he's still here. But do you remember what the prophecy said? It – "

"_The time will come when magic will fade from the world,"_ chanted Lorelei from the other side of the room, her sharp grey-blue eyes focused on a far-away image.

Marcus tuned out Andrea's words and stared at Veela Vera, who steadfastly ignored him. Veela Vera was as captivating as ever, but there was something off about her, Marcus noted. "You're looking at her," intoned Lorelei. For the first time, Marcus appeared to be in deep consternation. He hadn't even heard Lorelei. Marcus finally seemed to resurface from his thoughts, a familiar wayward smile back on his lips. Getting up, he asked Andrea, "Did you figure out what Wasabi-boy said out in the Quidditch field?" Andrea replied automatically, "Wabi said Krynne was a Daughter of the Skinwalkers. She's a skin-changer, whatever that means…" – At the other side of the room, Nurse Vera tensed up and an impassive, marble-like look entered her face. – "Are you even listening to me?" cried Andrea in exasperation.

"Yes, yes," Marcus replied distractedly, "Old Binns is gone, the boy's broom fell, which all leads to a conspiracy theory that magic is leaving the world. Blah blah blah. I don't believe the prophecy. Magic is as strong as ever. And I have proof too" – he looked around triumphantly – "Veela Vera has a powerful enchantment on her that made her open the Infirmary door for us! There's no way she'd do it otherwise. She hates my guts," Marcus said, shrugging. The young half-veela opened her mouth to say something, but then she stopped and looked disdainfully at Marcus, deciding that he was not worth the wrath of her anger. Her shining silver hair shadowed her eyes as she maneuvered her way around hospital beds and stalked towards the hospital exit. Marcus chased after the half-veela, protesting, "Wait! I know who put this enchantment on you! It was Krynne, right? Ooh, she's in deep shit now, trying to control Hogwarts staff…" Nurse Vera walked faster, but Marcus chased faster still. "But wait! I can take the enchantment off you! What was that Muggle fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty?" Marcus finally caught up to Nurse Vera. In one swift motion, he half-bent one knee and bowed his head. Taking the half-veela's hand and brushing it at his lips, he whispered theatrically, "My lady." He got up and stared into Veela Vera's brown eyes. Marcus inwardly thought, _That's weird, Veela Vera's eyes should be blue._

The moment passed. Lorelei Lovegood's outstretched arm pushed Marcus aside. Her normally dreamy face assumed a wise yet amused expression as she stood in front of the furious silver-haired nurse. Marcus blushed bright red and sputtered, "What was that for? I was just about to kiss Veela Vera!" Marcus paused, realizing his own buffoonery, then flushed a deeper scarlet.

Lorelei responded calmly, "This isn't Nurse Vera. It's Krynne."

Krynne ended the stunned silence with a suppressed shriek. She fumed, "How _dare_ you, Lorelei! How dare you tell anyone my secret?" She looked away, blinking away tears, "I trusted you…" Lorelei sang gaily, "You'll thank me later!" The Seer left the infirmary and was seen murmuring to a glass marble. Lorelei looked backed at Krynne with a mixture of compassion and understanding, and a bit of mild confusion. Then she was gone.

An awkward silence held the room. Andrea had walked closer towards the hospital exit where Krynne and Marcus were, and the three formed an uncomfortable triangle. Marcus spoke first, "So… you're half-veela, Krynne?" Krynne replied in monotone, "No. I'm not Nurse Vera and I never will be." Krynne looked dully at the ceiling, and she appeared utterly defeated and weak, entirely different from whom she was rumored to be. "I only disguised myself as Nurse Vera in order to get the enchanted keys to the Infirmary. It was the only way to meet Matthew and confirm that his broomstick lost its magic."

Marcus said deliberately, "So you're definitely not Veela Vera. Well then, I'm sorry for almost kissing you." His face was a combination of a nauseated expression and his ever-teasing eyes. Krynne rolled her eyes and blushed, muttering, "No, I was just annoyed." Marcus paused and looked at Andrea. His gaze faltered when he saw Andrea look away. She was probably angry at his rash actions, as usual. He smiled at Andrea's stubborn, keen, but ever-conscientious personality. Marcus continued, "Look, I only wanted to prove to that magic is still present – that it's not leaking away or whatever. I thought Veela Vera was under a spell like the princess's enchantment in Sleeping Beauty, and a kiss would wake her up. Okay, okay… maybe it wasn't the brightest idea to kiss Veela Vera, even if it was actually only you," Krynne rolled her eyes. Her face turned aside, Krynne was the only one aware of her burning cheeks. _Maybe Krynne was still upset about him saying she was in deep shit…_, Marcus mused in his head. He started to say something else, but was stopped by Andrea's hand.

"Oh, Marcus, just be quiet for moment," Andrea snapped, "I'm thinking." She twirled her hair nervously, her mind racing and piecing together bits of evidence.

"So," she spoke slowly, "You must be a Metamorphmagus."

Krynne flinched at the word 'Metamorphmagus,' as if snapping out of a reverie and hearing it said aloud for the first time. She gave a terrible, sad smile and repeated, "Yes, I must be a Metamorphmagus." She shook her head sardonically, "Would you believe me if I told you I _hate_ being –" She paused, then shook her head slightly. She stepped out into the hallway, and Andrea and Marcus followed suit. The Infirmary door slammed shut behind them.

"You mustn't tell _anyone_ that I'm a Metamorphmagus," Krynne hissed, looking around in the hallway, then turning back to face Marcus and Andrea. Desperation tinged her voice, but far more demanding was the ferocity and determination blazing in the depths of Krynne's dark eyes. She looked sharply at Marcus and Andrea, who each blanched in turn.

She continued, "No one in the Ministry of Magic knows." Krynne shrugged and smiled wryly. "And why would they? The Malfoys never did have any Metamorphmagi lineage." Krynne paused, remembering her mother, who was indeed a Metamorphmagus. Marcus and Andrea saw tears spring to Krynne's eyes, although they knew not why. Krynne blinked, then said, "No one in Hogwarts knows, with the exception of Lorelei - she and her stupid prophecies…" Krynne shook her head, but it was obvious from her smile that she was great friends with Lorelei. Then Krynne reassumed her rueful demeanor and said, "Now you two know. And probably that Lakota Indian from before, too. "

Marcus interrupted, "His name's Wasabi-boy." He burst out laughing at his joke. Andrea rolled her eyes nudged Marcus's shoulder, although she was secretly relieved that some of the tension. She saw that Krynne was suppressing a smile, too. Andrea insisted, "That was Wambleeska, but he says to call him Wabi. Come to think of it, he probably did know you were a Metamorphmagus; he called you a - a 'Skinchanger.' I don't know how he knew, though." Her face assumed a puzzled, thoughtful expression, but then it returned to its previous alertness.

"So you see, everything will go horribly wrong if the Ministry of Magic or Hogwarts finds out my secret. I can't explain, but please trust me and promise never to breathe a word of my Metamorphmagi abilities."

Meanwhile, Lorelei hurriedly walked down the hallway, half-dragging Wabi along with her. Lorelei was a true Seer, but the Sight came and went. Earlier in the Infirmary, Lorelei had had the sudden urge to reveal Krynne's secret to Andrea and Marcus. It was an omen – of what, she didn't know. But she quickly found Wabi in the library, and walked as fast as she could back to the Infirmary, hoping Krynne and the others hadn't gone far. Lorelei did make a few stops, though, to do some very important communing with her marble and other precious objects she had found carelessly cast on the ground.

Wabi lagged behind Lorelei, trying to keep up with her unusually fast pace. He had been pondering on why he was being brought to the infirmary, and had decided on only one reason. "_Cate sice_, Lorelei, I don't mean to interrupt your divining. But we're going to – to Krynne, right? The skinchanger… But why?"

Lorelei nodded briefly, smiling slightly. "I don't really understand why. I'm just following an omen…" Wabi gave an imperceptible nod that conveyed his complete understanding. "I feel the same way about communing with the Spiritworld…" His voice trailed off as the two swung around the corner where Krynne, Andrea, and Marcus were. Lorelei and Wabi stood apart from the group, unnoticed.

Krynne had just finished saying, "So you see, everything will go horribly wrong if the Ministry of Magic or Hogwarts finds out my secret. I can't explain, but please trust me and promise never to breathe a word of my Metamorphmagi abilities."

Something surged inside Andrea, bringing forth the words of an invocation deep within the recesses of her mind. Andrea felt compelled to pronounce, "I promise – no – I swear by the spirit of camaraderie now wrought between us," she said the next part smiling, "never to breathe a word about Krynne Malfoy's Metamorphmagi abilities."

Lorelei grabbed Andrea's hands and joined into the chant, to the surprise of Wabi. Even more surprised were Krynne and Andrea, who had not noticed the new presences. As if in a daze, Wabi reached out to Andrea's extended hand. Marcus gave a lazy smile and repeated the chant, holding Wabi's hand as well, but muttering 'Wasabi-boy' under his breath. Even Krynne found herself repeating the invocation, although she felt extremely silly chanting about herself.

They repeated after Andrea, "I swear by the spirit of camaraderie now wrought among us." Perhaps it came from within the group's circle, or maybe from a source beyond, but an intense white flash of light enveloped the group of acquaintances. Somehow, they didn't notice the searing light around themselves. Everyone in the group did notice, however, that the incantation was bigger than any mere secret.

Dazed they looked at each other in turn, wondering what happened, and the significance of it. Marcus spoke first, "Um, what just happened, Andrea? That was a pretty cool incantation, but I think it'd seem better if I knew what the words meant…"

Andrea rolled her eyes. But she was focused on a strange forgotten memory in her head, of a strange bright light that disappeared in an instant. Somehow, it reminded her of a different world. She shook her head, then refocused on her surroundings, the now-shadowy hallway –

"It means we're friends," said Krynne, smiling.

**What'd you think? Do you have any questions about our characters or story so far? If you have any comments and questions, leave them in a review.**

**~Minkx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay I originally had a much longer author's note but then I pressed one of those pesky little Fsomething buttons and it dissapeared...why? :( **

**This is my first update and I wrote the chapter- Mare **

**I hope you enjoy it! I think it's this story's longest chapter to date :) **

**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, the only things we own are the plot and our OC's. **

The enchanted sky glowed a deep cereulean as Andrea slowly chewed on a mouthful of instant oats. She was waiting for Shani to fly in with the newspaper and hopefully with a letter or two from her Muggle friends- though she didn't know exactly how her owl would have found them. Andrea felt lucky to have Muggle friends because of her mother, a muggleborn witch, although she had to lie to them about where she went at the end of the summer. Usually boarding school made a good lie, although she realized she had never mentioned where Hogwarts, technically a boarding school- said her guilty conscience, was. As her fellow Ravenclaws settled down, chattering away, she turned her thoughts to the broomstick "accident". Andrea had felt slightly unnerved about how urgent the situation seemed to her, but none of the teachers, nor the headmaster for that matter, had seemed to indicate alarm. When Kyrnne revealed her Metamorphagus power, Andrea had been shocked into suspicion, and her mind raced along now with what other secrets her friends might be concealing from her. Now that she was friends with Krynne she understood why the secret had been so well kept though, and then there was-well, there was Marcus- he never talks about his past, she thought- so how much did she know about him anyways? She started listing facts in her head and ran out fairly quickly. She knew Marcus' age, lineage and height and a whole lot about his personality…but before the year she she had met him, she knew nothing about his childhood. And then there was the possibility that this whole broomstick incident was just another inside joke of another person? The thought sickened her, not an inside joke, she amended, but a organized plot of some creep… A cloud of doubtfulness pervaded into the crisp morning as Lorelei nudged Andrea, pointing towards the window.

"Shani's a rather large owl isn't she?" Lorelei said. "What do you think you'll get in the mail?

Andrea shielded her eyes with one hand as she squinted into the sun-filled windows, locating her owl amidst a mass of wings and feathers that suddenly overtook the hall, filling every corner and table with hoots and caws.

"Maybe I'll get some letters from my Muggle friends- but usually it's just the paper- what about you?" Andrea said.

"My mum's mailing me some Dirrigible Plums, I hope they're not squished." Lorelei mused.

Andrea muffled a laugh in her robe's sleeve as her owl divebombed, stopping right by her bowl of oats. A gray newpaper tightly rolled up and bound with magic unfurled at the touch of her wand.

"Thank you, Shani." Andrea cooed as Shani nuzzled her cheek briefly and flew off, exhausted, to the Owlery. She opened to paper and began to read the first page, but was soon interrupted.

"The Minister bans decorative dress robes in private magic schools, ehhh sounds like a snore." Marcus' voice came from over Andrea's shoulder as she spun around. Marcus had somehow snuck over again unnoticed from the Slytherin table and was casually standing behind Andrea, unperturbed by the glaring Ravenclaws surrounding him.

"Apparently there have been too many cases of 'questionable attire' that 'distract from academic pursuits'" Andrea read as she warily continued scanning through the article. Andrea said indignantly, "I sincerely hope you don't get any ideas from this, Marcus." She looked pointedly down at Marcus' flamboyant cowboy boots.

"Oh, believe me- my next outfit is already in planning from what I've seen from that picture- what is it?" said Marcus, pausing in his tirade as Andrea frowned noticeably and brought the paper closer to her face and gave it a few firm shakes. "What are you doing?"

"Look at this!" Andrea exclaimed.

"I can see it from here. What's the big deal?" Marcus said.

"Take a good, long, look at it." Andrea insisted, her hands holding the newspaper taut for Marcus to look.

"Okay…" After a moment of prolonged silence, Marcus shoved his fist through the paper, making a loud whapping sound. "It's just a picture, come on Andrea, a picture, we've all seen those before, haven't we?"

"That's the point, though!" Andrea said, "It's just a picture, exactly like from the Muggle world -it's not moving at all."

Before he could suggest it, she flipped to the other pages first, reasoning that it could have been just that picture. Flipping one page after another, Andrea's suspicions were confirmed. By the last page she only paused for 10 seconds to make sure that the picture on the page, was undoubtedly still. Andrea felt like she had just quickly flashed into the Muggle world and it took a second for her to reassert to herself that pictures _always _moved in the wizarding world. Marcus looked at her, raising his eyebrows very slightly, as always, not one to overreact to things. Before Andrea could give Marcus the paper to see for himself, a pale hand shot out and grabbed the paper.

"You shouldn't bother with that- it will do you no good to work it out." Lorelei said matter-of -factly.

"The prophecy, you mean?" Said Andrea shrewdly.

"Come on, Andrea- this prophecy again? You don't still think it's actually real."Marcus said, pointedly rolling his eyes at Lorelei.

"Well, there's certainly no proof that it isn't." Lorelei said with a smile at Marcus disbelieving expression.

"And the proof that there is, then?" Marcus challenged, his chin jutting out in a confrontational gesture. "Why should we care about a _fake _prophecy, Loreliar"

"Of course we should care!" interjected Andrea.

"Why not?" Lorelei said simply, and with another smile and a wave, she headed off her class.

"Was she talking to me?" Marcus muttered, looking questioningly at Andrea. Andrea shrugged, just as mystified as he was. Then, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, "I've got Quidditch now anyhow, I just came over here to tell you- after the last class, me, you and Kyrnne-let's go to the secret hideout we discovered."

Andrea nodded and then said, "Wait a second- you hiccupped when you said Krynne's name." She said accusingly.

"Kyrnne." Marcus repeated and then flushed a little. "I _so _did not hiccup."

"You so did! Oh my god-" Andrea said, smiling gleefully. "You like her!"

"I did not! I _did_ not!" Marcus protested loudly and this came to no avail as Andrea was laughing now, so he said, "And so what if I did? Huh? It doesn't mean anything." As Andrea grinned at him in reply, Marcus made a huffing sound, offended, and turned heel, making sure to hit Andrea in the face with his robe.

"Later!" Andrea called, her mood lightened as she watched Marcus stomp away.

After a morning of double potions with Professor Wimblecort, Andrea was feeling great about the rest of the day. The fact that she also had double Arithmatcy didn't even dampen the afterglow of successfully creating an original color changing recipe in potions class. The popcupine quills had been a nice touch, really, gave the color changing progression a nice shot of neon pink…The corridors were clogged as always but she spotted Marcus surrounded by a group of his Slytherin friends from the otherside of the stairwell. Waiting until Marcus was alone, she caught up with him as he was about to enter the Great Hall.

"Hey Marcus." She said as the doors opened and students started to file into the hall.

"Andrea!" Marcus exclaimed, "You're dry!" He grabbed her into a suffocating before she could protest. "Ahhh…freshly laundered robes- is that lavender I smell?"

"Idiot!" Andrea said indignantly, pushing Marcus off her, "You're soaking wet!"

"I know…" Marcus bemoaned, "Our captain still had us ride on our brooms can you believe it- quite slippery round the- well I won't bother you with the details."

"Why would you suffer the rain just to play a sport?" Andrea said, looking automatically up at the enchanted ceiling as they walked in. "Well, look at the ceiling, it's not raining anymore…"

"Wait- what the hell?" Marcus said, tilting his head, "It was _not_ about to stop when we came in."

"Tough luck." Andrea said and they headed off to their respective tables. As she sat down at the Ravenclaw table, the chattering died down to murmurs and then silence. All four houses swiveled to face the front of the hall where the teachers' table was.

I wonder what the headmaster has to say, Andrea thought.

The headmaster, Professor _ had stood up and was clearing his throat now, the hall was abuzz with anticipatory silence.

"As you are all aware, recently, Hogwarts has had a minor accident." His eyes glanced briefly over the Hufflepuff table where there seemed to be the most recognition. After all, not all classes had been out when the boy had fell off his broom.

"Because of this mishap, although slight, precautions must be taken-so," He continued, "Quidditch games will temporarily be postponed until further notice-" A clamor arose at this as the students began to talk amongst themselves. Andrea saw Marcus raise his first in the air and shout "Objection!"

"I ask that all Quidditch captains understand that there will be _no _practices scheduled until the ban on Quidditch is lifted. Also, no student is to enter the Quidditch field in light of the current situation." A boo began to arise from the students and the headmaster tugged at his beard, aggravated.

"And what about the house cup?" shouted someone from the Gryffindor table. Andrea could see Krynne sitting there, looking thoroughly irritated by the news. At this shout, Andrea's Arithmatcy teacher, Proffesor Richter stood up and whispered something into the headmasters' ear.

A look of epiphany came over the old man's face, "Ah yes," He said suddenly, "We are in the process of scheduling some festivities with the Ministry of Magic anyways, so regardless of accident or no, there might not be time for Quidditch anyways." His eyes tinkled at this and the students were appeased enough to fall silent. They were not about to hear more about the mysterious plans though, apparently, because the headmaster suddenly waved his hands and food appeared on the tables. "Enjoy your lunch!" He said, concluding his speech amidst clatters of silver plates and cookery.

"What d'you think it means? Maybe they're organizing some kind of school dance or something…" Andrea's friend Priscilla said as they leaned across the table to discuss.

"Ugh, I hope not-dances mean dates and definitely not anyone I want to go with." Andrea said.

"Well," Priscilla began mischievously, "I'd love to go with that Marcus of yours if you don't."

"It's not like that!" Andrea moaned, "We're just friends. I think I caught him crushing on this other girl though-"

"Oooh, who?" Priscilla said.

"A Gryffindor, let's just say." Andrea said, not wanting to bring attention to Krynne's name.

"A Gryffindor and a Slytherin?" Priscilla said, her eyes widening, "He's got some nerve, doesn't he? Maybe he likes the heroic type- well of course he likes you Andrea, but I mean _after _that-"

"I don't like Marcus, you idiot!" Andrea said, whacking Priscilla with her Potions book.

Their conversation was cut short as the hall suddenly pulsed with flashing light. Andrea turned in her seat to look for the cause and her eyes shot to the ceiling. A crooked black line had appeared in the enchanted ceiling and she saw the two separate sides created by the fissure momentarily flicker between darkness and blinding light. After several seconds, the ceiling returned to normal, however, the dark line remained. Andrea felt a slight twinge of panic as the words of the prophecy ran through her mind. She looked around for her Marcus and Krynne, to see how they were reacting. She scanned the crowd quickly for them but the teachers seemed to busy so she directed attention towards them instead.

"Lunch is dismissed!" Said the headmaster quickly, waving his hands again even though the lunch period had been relatively short. The noise level rose again in the hall and the teachers' table was soon obscured and students got up to go to their classes, but when Andrea passed their table she saw them whispering to each other, huddled in deep discussion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, this is Minxe. This is the new chapter, written by Night.**

**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowling, not Night, Mare, or me. We merely own our characters.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Andrea listened as Professor Harrison Remus Lupin, their Defense against Dark Arts teacher, discussed Harry Potter's final battle against Voldemort, stifling a yawn. Everyone knew the story well enough- it was told almost like one of Beedle Bard's tales now, for goodness's sake- yet the current headmaster still refused to take it out of the curriculum, insisting that it was a "warning" against doing wrong. She studied the teacher as he dramatically told the tale.

Professor Lupin, or "Wolfie", as everyone called him behind his back, was a strange-looking mixture of werewolf, metamorphmagus, and wizard. Somewhere along the original Remus Lupin's bloodlines, that pesky werewolf gene had shown itself again, and as a result, Professor Lupin looked rather scruffy and old despite being only a mere 24. There were gray streaks in his hair, which remained as it rapidly changed from red to blue, and then to a shocking mixture of colors as he reached the story's end, exclaiming with his arms open wide.

"And Harry, with the Elder wand gripped tightly in his right hand, smote the cruel Voldemort down with that deadly and fate-deciding spell! _AVADA KEDAVRA!_"

Lupin's hair turned to an ebony black and his eyes into a brilliant green as he spoke the words of the death spell. He made a gesture with his right hand as if he were holding the elder wand himself and stabbed the air with it.

He didn't make a half-bad Harry Potter, she mused. Minus the streaks of gray in his hair, he almost looked like a mirror image of the famous hero.

"And Voldemort clutched his chest, staring down at the place where his shriveled and withered heart should have been-"

Lupin's eyes turned a crimson red and he clutched at his chest making choking noises.

He spoke again in a hoarse croak, "-and he reached a claw-like hand to try to grasp at the air. And….he DIED!"

Lupin fell onto his knees, made a few choking noises, and keeled over, lying on the ground, motionless.

A few moments passed in utter silence and then the clapping, laughter, and whistling began as Lupin stood, running a hand through his messy hair and bowing.

Andrea rolled her eyes, though a smile tugged on her lips. If anything, the reason why Professor Lupin looked so tired was because he wore himself out with all of his dramatic re-enactments.

The noise died down as the ghost of Professor Mcgonagall slid through the wall as easily as a knife slicing through butter to give everyone in the class a reprimanding glare and move her fingers to her lips for the sign for silence.

"Professor Lupin!" she scolded in her hollow, ghostly voice which seemed to mimic the sound of the wind ruffling tree leaves.

He laughed, a youthful sound compared to his appearance, and allowed himself a sheepish grin as Professor Mcgonagall passed through the wall again.

"Too bad Harry Potter's latest descendant can't smote down anything!" someone in the room jeered.

Andrea watched as the gangly, red-eared boy with black hair and brown eyes sitting in front of her attempted to sink even further back into his chair.

"Ah! Jayce!" Professor Lupin shouted cheerfully, "fancy seeing you here. Aren't you going to say hello to your favorite cousin?"

Somewhere along the way, the family trees of Potter and Lupin had converged, so now every Potter was bound to have some Lupin blood in him and vice versa.

"Hi," she heard the boy mumble as snickers were heard throughout the room.

An enchanted paper airplane flew over her head, making a few, lazy circles before hitting Jason on the right side of his head.

He stiffened, but remained silent and slouched.

She felt a twinge of sympathy at this. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't meet the extraordinarily high standards that the students, and even some of the teachers, seemed to set for those of the Potter family. The young wizards and witches just appeared to view the Potter family as one set high above on a pedestal which they added to with all of the exaggerations about Harry Potter himself, and anyone that was part of the Potter family and only average in their magic was considered a disgrace. Jason Potter was just unlucky enough to be the Potter family's current youngest in Gryffindor.

_Thunk! Thunk!_

Andrea stiffened at the sudden bombardment of objects at her head, she turned to see Jonah Feldsworth, the culprit, sitting a row behind her with an innocent smile plastered onto his face and a miniature, make-shift catapult on his desk.

Jonah was from Ravenclaw, and from the evidence lying on his desk, he was definitely clever enough to be in the house, though he only seemed to use his intelligence for silly pranks.

She glared at him, her temper flaring, as he mouthed the word 'sorry' and gestured downwards and then to Jason.

Andrea glanced down to see two large textbooks lying next to her chair, probably the ammunition he'd used. Now she truly was tempted to throw them- but not at Jason, but in the other direction- at Jonah.

Professor Lupin had apparently caught wind of what had happened by now, and had began reprimanding Jonah, searching his messy desk and drawers for a blank and un-crumpled detention slip.

She leaned over to reach the books, grasping one and hefting it in one hand as she reached another hand to touch the place on the back of her head where the large books had hit.

She lifted the book up with caution, wondering if Jonah had gone as far as to hide some sort of spell or charm in the book that would activate as soon as it was opened, read, or perhaps even touched. It would be very like him to do something like that. Andrea flicked her wand against it, breathing out a spell.

"_Finite Incantatem."_

Andrea studied the book for any sort of change, and finding none, she placed it on her desk, along with the other book after casting another Finite Incantatem spell on it as well.

In her annoyance and anger, she wondered if she should cast a little vengeance spell on the books before giving them back…

"Perhaps a Flagrante curse," she mused as she allowed herself a moment to imagine the consequences her little bit of revenge would bring as she brushed some dirt off of one of the books. But of course, she wouldn't perform any of the vengeances she was currently imagining. She would probably end up expelled for harming another student and it would do her no good to have the Ravenclaw prankster become her enemy

She shuddered.

She would probably never get a sound sleep in the Ravenclaw girls' dorm again.

But of course, small, unexplainable things would be alright…. She allowed herself this petty thought as she examined the books.

One of the books was just a rather plain and ordinary Herbology textbook, but the other was fancier with a leather-bound cover and golden lettering which spelled out "Theories of the Worlds."

Andrea opened the book, stilling her flash-pan temper with a few calming breaths, flipping through the first few pages of the table of contents until she reached the introduction.

_Though many wizards deny the possibility, I truly believe that there exists not just one world, but many. Every world must have a start. So how did ours start? My theory is that our world was not the first, and compared to the others, our world may still be young. There could exist many other worlds, where their magic is different. Some wizards even claim they have seen such worlds, or for a moment, stepped into a place otherworldly, a place so strange it cannot belong to our world. Some have even seen other worlds in their dreams, or have some memory of a distant land yet cannot remember where the memory came from. Some wizards have other magic as well, magic wilder, less controlled than magic performed with a wand. Unexplainable magic. It can appear in any moment, in the strangest forms, it is otherworldly magic, magic carried through blood throughout the generations of those who once came here from other lands. It weakens, sputters like a flame, yet sometimes, it does spring up, like a wildfire, in some generations._

She shut the book. Just some crack-pot wizard's jibber-jabber in an attempt to become famous. Andrea tapped its golden latch. She could probably bet that Jonah had only bought this book to use as his catapult's ammunition. It was certainly heavy and hard enough with its metal latches and thick leather binding.

But still…she paused in her tapping. Some of the words did ring true.

_Unexplainable magic…_

She could practically see that bright, otherworldly light again…

Andrea shook her head furiously. What had happened with Krynne, Wabi, and Marcus, had probably been the sunlight, or perhaps the sun glinting off of some unnoticeable piece of metal or glass on the floor. Or perhaps Marcus or some other student's idea of a prank.

She directed her attention to the front of the room to see that Professor Lupin was now scribbling the homework onto the chalkboard in messy, unreadable handwriting.

She quietly cursed Jonah under her breath for making her lose her concentration as she attempted to decipher Professor Lupin's handwriting.

Andrea concentrated on the white scrawls against the black board, and finally, sighing, she tapped Jason on the shoulder.

"Jason," she whispered, receiving no response.

"Just ignore all the haters, Jayce," she heard his friend, a blonde witch by the name of Lauren, murmur to him.

"I just want the homework," she whispered, feeling slightly annoyed. She'd prefer not to ask Jonah, and there was no one sitting next to her.

Why did it have to be Gryffindor and Ravenclaw double period Defense against Dark Arts? There was almost no one near her to ask. There was, of course, Krynne, but Krynne seemed to prefer to sit in the back, while Andrea preferred the middle or front.

"4-page report on the 3 deadly hallows. Answer the question why they are important in history and how they shaped wizard history and if they are truly good or bad," Lauren whispered back, "now leave poor Jason alone."

She scribbled it down, and out of politeness, muttered a quick thanks, shoving her books back into her bag and knocking over Jonah's Herbology textbook in the process.

Andrea picked it up, scowling at the notion of handing the 2 books back to him. She picked it up, examining the page it was open at, scanning over its words quickly.

_Ash trees are known for their magical and healing properties, which makes wands made out of these woods especially good for magic…_

She closed the book. That was common knowledge in Hogwarts. Yet where had she heard something like that before? Her eyes lit up in remembrance. The prophecy.

"She will wield a wand of fiery heart and healing wood…" she murmured to herself.

Fiery heart, a wand's "heart" could mean the wand-core. A wand-core related to the element of fire would be dragon heartstring. What other creature was so renowned for its breath of fire? And healing wood had to be ash!

She pushed the rest of her books into her bag, shoving Jonah's books back into his surprised hands as she rushed out of the room as class ended.

"Thanks, Jonah!" she shouted over her shoulder at his stunned face as she ran to catch up with Krynne.


End file.
